Ovarian cancer

Definition

Ovarian cancer is cancer that starts in the ovaries. The ovaries are the female reproductive organs that produce eggs.

Alternative Names

Cancer - ovaries

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women. It causes more deaths than any other type of female reproductive cancer.

The cause is unknown.

Risk of developing ovarian cancer may be due to:

The fewer children a woman has and the later in life she gives birth, the higher her risk of ovarian cancer.

Certain gene problems (defects in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes) are responsible for a small number of ovarian cancer cases.

Women who have had breast cancer or have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

Women who take estrogen replacement only (not with progesterone) for 5 years or more may have a high risk of ovarian cancer. Birth control pills, however, decrease the risk of ovarian cancer.

Fertility drugs probably do not increase the risk of ovarian cancer.

Older women are at highest risk of developing ovarian cancer. Most deaths from ovarian cancer occur in women age 55 and older.

Symptoms

Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague. Women and their doctors often blame the symptoms on other, more common conditions. By the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor has often spread beyond the ovaries.

See your doctor if you have the following symptoms on a daily basis for more than a few weeks:

Treatment

Removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes (bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy)

Partial or complete removal of the omentum, the fatty layer that covers and pads organs in the abdomen

Examination, biopsy, or removal of the lymph nodes and other tissues in the pelvis and abdomen

Surgery done by a specialist in female organ cancers has been shown to result in a higher success rate.

Chemotherapy is used after surgery to treat any cancer that remains. Chemotherapy can also be used if the cancer comes back. Chemotherapy is most often given into the veins. Sometimes it is given directly into the abdominal cavity (intraperitoneal).

Complications

Calling your health care provider

Contact your health care provider if you are a woman over 40 years old who has not recently had a pelvic exam. Routine pelvic exams are recommended for all women over 20 years old.

Call for an appointment with your provider if you have symptoms of ovarian cancer.

Prevention

There are no standard recommendations for screening for ovarian cancer. Pelvic ultrasound or blood tests, such as the CA-125 has not been found to be effective and is not recommended.

BRCA gene testing may be done in women at high risk for ovarian cancer.

Removing the ovaries and tubes in women who have a problem in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene may reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer. But ovarian cancer may still develop in other areas of the pelvis.